Minerva's Potions Accident
by Healer Pomfrey
Summary: Due to a Potions Accident Minerva is de-aged to a 5 y. old mischief maker, keeping Harry, Severus, and Poppy, who are sick with wizard's scarlet fever, on their toes. Can Harry and Sev get along enough to cope with her? Compl. AU, partly OOC, sick!M,S,P,H
1. Chapter 1

**Minerva's Potions Accident**

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I am not a native speaker of English. So please excuse my mistakes!_

_All recognizable characters belong to __Mrs. Rowling__, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._

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Chapter 1**

It was the first day of the winter holidays at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy, and after seeing the students off to the station in Hogsmeade, Minerva and Harry returned to the castle in order to enjoy their free day. However, Albus Dumbledore was waiting for them in the entrance hall. "I'm sorry, Minerva and Harry, but I need you to brew a potion. Poppy and Severus have both come down with wizard's scarlet fever, and I have to ask you to brew the antidote against it as well as a fever reducing potion for them."

Minerva and Harry exchanged a horrified glance, before Minerva told the headmaster, "Albus, you know that Mr. Potter and I are both absolute dunderheads according to Severus when it comes to Potions; moreover Mr. Potter is only a third-year student. How can you believe that we'll be able to brew such things?"

"Because you're the only healthy people in the castle, and I'm already on my way to the ministry. I asked Severus to put out the recipes on the table for you in the Potions classroom. However, you have to be careful not to touch the antidote with any part of your body; otherwise, you'll catch the disease as well."

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

"You heard what Professor Dumbledore said; let's go, Mr. Potter," Minerva told Harry, glaring at the headmaster.

"All right," Harry answered uncertainly, following his head of house to the dungeons.

During the next hour, they busied themselves preparing the ingredients for the respective potion. Harry had taken over responsibility for the antidote, while Minerva had to brew the fever reducer.

"All right, I'm going to start," Harry finally said and began to brew, throwing Minerva uncertain glances from time to time. Another hour later, Harry added the last ingredient, stirred the potion and reduced the flame so that his potion could simmer for five minutes until it was finished. He sat back in his chair and let out a relieved sigh, before he once more read the information in the book. "I can't believe it," he spoke up confused. "Since I started Hogwarts, I haven't been able to brew one potion correctly, but that seems to be perfect."

"Very well done, Harry; fifty points to Gryffindor for brewing a potion for your professors during the holidays. I'm very proud of you," Minerva replied, stirring her potion.

"Uh, sorry Professor, but are you counting how oft you are stirring?" Harry asked worriedly.

Minerva turned back to her potion and let out a huge gasp, but it was already too late. The potion was hissing angrily before it exploded over Minerva and Harry's cauldron. Harry's potion exploded as well over Minerva and Harry. Harry groaned and let himself sink back into his seat. '_That went well_,' he thought. '_Now we'll both going to be ill during the holidays just like Madam Pomfrey and Snape_.'

Suddenly, a small voice pulled him out of his thoughts. "Hello, I'm Minerva, and who are you?"

A small girl was standing in front of him. Harry gave the child a terrified look before he replied gently, "Hello Minerva, I'm Harry. I'm afraid you'll have to wait for a moment as I have to brew an urgent potion. How old are you, by the way?"

"I'm five. Where are we, where are my parents, and why do I have to wait here? I don't care if you want to brew a potion, I hate potions. They taste absolutely icky. I had to take one when I had the wizard's flu and it was horrible," the girl replied with a stern expression that Harry knew too well.

"Well, we're at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy, and I'm afraid your parents are not here at the moment. You have to wait for me, because the only people except for us, who are in the castle, are ill. Would you like something to play? Or do you like to read?"

"I want my book 'Hogwarts: A History' which is written in big letters. I can't read small letters yet!" the girl exclaimed, giving Harry an expecting look.

Harry groaned. "I'm really sorry, Minerva, but I have no idea how to get such a book, and I can't transfigure one. I'm only a third year student."

"A bit stupid, aren't we?" Minerva replied and snatched Harry's wand from him. She raised the wand and shouted, "Accio Minerva McGonagall's 'Hogwarts: A History' book."

Harry sighed and still pondered what to do, when a few minutes later a book came through the classroom door, leaving a hole in the door. Minerva ran over to where the book had crashed on the floor and picked it up happily, before she sent Harry a triumphant smile. "See, it's not at all difficult."

"All right Minerva, could you please read your book and let me brew now?" Harry asked exasperated and began to brew his potion again.

For half an hour the small girl entertained herself with her book, so that Harry could prepare his ingredients. Just when he picked up the first ingredient to put it into the cauldron, the girl said, "I'm hungry."

Harry sighed and considered what he could transfigure into something to eat, when he suddenly remembered that the headmaster had told him that Dobby was now working in the kitchen and that he could call him anytime if he wanted to speak with him. He hesitantly called out, "Dobby!"

Instantly, Dobby appeared in front of Harry. "What cans Dobby does for Master Harry?"

"Could you please bring something to eat and drink for Minerva? And could you also leave Professor Dumbledore a message that he has to come to the Potions classroom urgently?"

"Yes, of course, Master Harry," Dobby promised and popped away. A blink later, lunch appeared in front of Minerva, who happily began to eat.

'_Thank God_,' Harry thought. '_I have to finish that potion_.' He tried to fully concentrate on the potion, ignoring the fact that Minerva was running around the room trying to catch his attention by any means. In spite of the girl's antics, who was now climbing on the desks and jumping down again, he managed to finish the potion flawlessly. As soon as it was done, he threw the strongest Protego spell on the potion and let it simmer, while he turned to the fever reducer.

He noticed immediately that there were two potions on the same page, the fever reducer and a de-aging potion. '_How could the professor be so stupid?_' he thought annoyed and quickly gathered the ingredients.

"Shall I help you? I'm good at brewing," the small girl offered.

"That's very kind of you, but I'm all right," Harry refused gently. Just when he threw the first ingredient in, Minerva let out a huge scream, causing Harry to jump in fright, spilling the ingredient all over the floor. '_You little cow_,' he thought but didn't voice his anger and started to prepare the birch bark once more.

"I have to go wee-wee," the girl told him as soon as he put in the first ingredient.

"Can you wait a few minutes please?" Harry asked gently.

The girl stepped over to his side, standing right next to him. "No, I cannot wait! Just tell me where the toilets are, and I'll go there on my own!"

'_Who knows what she'll do if I let her loose?_' Harry mused and quickly threw a stasis charm on the potion, hoping that it would be all right at that stage. He quickly took the girl to the near-by toilets and told her to hurry up, which she fortunately did.

However, when Harry only had to add two more ingredients, Minerva jumped to Harry's side and quickly threw something into the potion, causing it to change its colour completely. Harry hurriedly banished the potion as he had seen Professor Snape do with his own potion often enough and started to prepare the ingredients all over, giving the little girl a menacing glare.

"Are you sure that I can't help you? I want you to finish soon; it's boring here," Minerva told him, returning his glare.

"No thank you; you definitely already helped enough today," Harry replied sternly. "Sit down somewhere and don't move," he ordered the girl, knowing that she wouldn't listen to him anyway.

"You're not very nice," Minerva declared and proceeded to sit on the teacher's table and explore the drawer inside the desk.

'_Well, that's not my problem; I have to finish that potion_,' Harry thought desparetely and began to brew the fever reducer once more. He was just half-way through the brewing process when the headmaster entered the room.

Harry sighed in relief. "Thank God you're here, Professor. Professor McGonagall managed to brew a de-aging potion instead of the fever reducer and made the potion explode over herself and the antidote, which I had just finished. The antidote spread over both of us. Now she is five years and behaves like the Weasley twins together." He put the last ingredient in his cauldron and declared, "finished."

Dumbledore went over to Minerva. "Hello Minerva," he said gently. "I am Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of this school. Did you give Harry a hard time?"

"He's stupid and not nice," Minerva told the headmaster and pulled his long white beard, giggling happily.

"No, my dear child, Harry is a very nice boy, and I'd like to ask you to behave towards him," Dumbledore told the girl in a gentle but stern voice, while Harry bottled the two potions in phials. The headmaster quickly waved his wand to copy the labels, causing Harry to let out a relieved sigh.

"Thank you, Professor. What are we going to do with her? Do I have to brew an antidote to the de-aging potion?" he asked anxiously.

Dumbledore sighed. "First of all, we will have to speak with Professor Snape and Madam Pomfrey. They are both in their private quarters, and Professor McGonagall was supposed to look after them. However, since that won't be possible for the moment and you'll both be sick as well by tomorrow, I suggest that all four of you stay together in the hospital wing. You will all have to look after each other."

'_With Snape and that little cow?_' Harry groaned inwardly and threw the headmaster a horrified look.

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_tbc..._


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Harry, could you please take these two batches of potions with you and accompany Minerva to the hospital wing? I will go and speak with Professor Snape. He won't be very pleased of the situation either."

"All right," Harry replied. '_As long as you don't leave me alone with the little monster_,' he added in his thoughts as he turned to Minerva. "Pick up your book and follow me please."

For once, the girl complied and followed him up to the hospital wing. While they walked, she looked around interestedly, speaking with the people in all the portraits they passed on their way and looking behind all doors she saw, so that it took them quite a while until they arrived in the healer's office just when the headmaster stepped out of the fireplace followed closely by an obviously sick Severus. The teacher's skin seemed even paler than normal, but his cheeks were unnaturally flushed and he had a rash on the parts of his body that were visible. Sweat was covering his forehead, making his hair stick to it.

Severus stepped over to Harry, took the potions from him, and placed them on the table in Poppy's office. "Took you long enough," he said hoarsely, while he opened one phial of the antidote against the wizard's scarlet fever, carefully sniffed at it several times, eyed the liquid closely, and finally gulped it down, before he repeated the process with the fever reducing potion.

Harry watched the professor worriedly and, seeing that Severus visibly relaxed, he asked anxiously, "Are the potions all right, Professor?"

"Yes," Severus replied shortly, just when Albus came out of Madam Pomfrey's private quarters, the healer in tow, who looked equally ill as the Potions professor.

"Did you approve of Harry's potions, Severus?" Dumbledore asked gently.

"They were adequate," the professor replied, handing Poppy a phial of each potions, which she greedily gulped down.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Potter," she turned to the boy.

"You're welcome," Harry mumbled, feeling very uncomfortable at the attention. '_Where is Minerva?_' he suddenly remembered and stepped out of Poppy's office.

At the same time, Dumbledore motioned Severus and Poppy out of the office into the hospital wing, where he quickly transformed the first four beds into comfortable four poster beds and motioned his two colleagues to the two outer beds, before he explained to them what had happened in the Potions classroom earlier.

"Albus, you are not telling us that Minerva is a five-year old kid and she and Potter are going to become sick as well?" Severus asked horrified.

"That's not all," Albus replied gravely. "Harry had to start the potions all over several times, because Minerva threw things in it and disturbed him as much as possible. He told me she was worse than the Weasley twins together."

"Ah, that was just what we needed while we're feeling so unwell, especially as we can't do any magic to quieten her," Poppy groaned. "Where are Mr. Potter and Minerva by the way?"

"Oh, I'm sure Harry is chasing her, trying to prevent her from doing mischief," Albus replied thoughtfully, before he turned to Poppy. "How and when can we re-age her?"

Poppy let out a snort. "Was it the normal de-aging potion she brewed?"

Her question caused Severus to groan. "The normal de-aging potion is on the opposite side from the fever reducer in the book I put out for them. Leave it to Minerva to brew the wrong potion. Well, at least we know that it was the normal de-aging potion."

"The problem is that we have to age her back in steps until she becomes sixteen and reaches her magical majority, which means that we can only let her grow up one year in a day," Poppy explained pensively.

At the same time, Harry came over to them with a mischievous looking Minerva in tow, made her sit on the empty bed next to Poppy's, and knelt down in front of her, talking quietly with the child. "Minerva, I know that it's boring for you today, but I can't help it; Madam Pomfrey and Professor Snape are ill, and we have to care for them and be a bit quiet in here; do you understand me?"

"Yes, I'm sorry," Minerva replied thoughtfully.

"I have to speak with them and see if I have to do anything else and if not, I'm going to play with you, Minerva, all right?"

The little girl's eyes lit immediately. "Can we go flying then?"

"We'll see," Harry replied, gently patting the girl's hand, before he turned to the headmaster. "I'm sorry, Professor, Minerva obviously nicked a piece of chalk from the Potions classroom and painted the walls in the girl's washroom all over. Can you please teach me a spell to clean that up?"

The headmaster turned to a smugly looking Minerva. "That was very naughty, Minerva," he said sternly and conjured parchment and a few crayons on the night table of her bed, before he motioned Minerva to sit on a chair next to the bed. "Maybe you can draw a nice picture, Minerva, hmm?"

To Harry's great relief, Minerva complied, and the headmaster turned to him. "Yes, Harry, I will show you the spell later on. I am really sorry, my boy, but you will have to brew another potion today..."

"The aging potion for Minerva I suppose," Harry interrupted him dully. "If someone else could look after the little wonder while I'm brewing..."

"Yes, my dear, I will look after her," Poppy said immediately.

"You are ill tough, aren't you, Madam Pomfrey? You have no idea what a little whirlwind she is," Harry replied. '_Maybe I should stun her before I leave_,' he thought, throwing the girl an annoyed glance.

"I shall accompany Mr. Potter since he has to change the potion so that it will only make her age a year at a time," Severus spoke up, sitting up.

"You have quite a fever, my boy," Albus replied. "Are you sure that Mr. Potter won't be able to brew on his own?"

"Now that I've taken the fever reducer I feel much better," Severus returned. "If Potter managed to brew the antidote and the fever reducer flawlessly as hard to believe as that is, he'll be able to brew this one as well; however, I have to guide him through the brewing process since it will be slightly different from the normal one."

Harry suddenly became aware of the fact that Minerva had abandonned her drawing and was occupying herself at the other end of the large room, jumping from one bed to the next. "Minerva, come back here immediately," he shouted, causing the girl to laugh.

"Come here and catch me, Harry!" she cheered, while she continued to jump, until the headmaster pointed his wand at her and stunned her.

"I'm sorry, Minerva," he said apologizing, while he walked over to her, scooped her into his arms, and carried her over to the bed next to Poppy, where he put her down gently.

"You can go ahead, Mr. Potter; I shall take the internal Floo network, which students cannot use," Severus turned to Harry and slowly stood up, swaying a little.

"Are you all right, Professor?" Harry asked, giving the professor a concerned look. '_Madam Pomfrey must be really sick, if she lets Snape go in that condition_,' he mused while he quickly left the room, resisting the urge to throw another menacing glare at the small girl that looked even tinier in the huge bed.

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

When Harry arrived in the Potions classroom with a feeling of having butterflies in his stomach, the teacher was already getting ingredients together, which he placed on the work table Harry had used before. "It's all right, Professor; if you just tell me what I need, I will get the ingredients," he said softly, seeing that the teacher was not his normal menacing self.

"All right," Snape replied and sat down at his desk, before he proceeded to name the ingredients Harry was going to need. He watched the boy closely while he prepared the ingredients, noticing that Harry seemed to be more adept than he had ever shown during his class.

"Is it all right so far?" Harry asked, feeling very uncertain under the teacher's stern glare.

"Yes; go on Potter. The earlier we can turn that little monster back to her usual self the better," the Professor groaned.

"That's true!" Harry had to agree fullheartedly.

Severus safely guided Harry through the brewing process, watching the boy's every move. In contrary to the Potions class, where the professor used to walk around breathing into his neck in order to make him upset enough to fail his potion, the teacher remained seated and contented himself to tell Harry what he had to do.

"Do we need anything else, Professor?" Harry enquired, while he bottled the potion in several small phials.

The professor let out a small sigh, popping up his head in his hands. "Are you still feeling well, Potter?"

Harry gave the teacher a confused look, unconsciously rubbing his forehead hoping to get rid of the headache that had begun to unnerve him during the last hour. "Yes, I'm fine," he replied uncomfortably.

"In that case, it would be good if you could brew a headache potion, Mr. Potter. The problem with the wizard's scarlet fever is that we cannot do magic once the fever has started; doing magic would aggravate our condition badly."

Harry couldn't help feeling extremely sick at the thought of not being able to do magic in Minerva's company.

"If you just give me the recipe, I can brew the headache potion on my own I think, if it's not extremely difficult." Harry threw the Potions professor a questioning glance.

"You will manage, Mr. Potter, seeing how you managed to brew the other potions on your own," Severus replied.

"Of course, Professor," Harry replied, thinking, '_As long as Minerva isn't here to disturb me, I can do anything_.' He immediately began to engross himself with the potion and was just about half through the brewing process, when the professor suddenly let out a huge gasp. "What did she do here?" he croaked, sounding terrified.

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_I am not a native speaker of English. So please excuse my mistakes!_

_All recognizable characters belong to J.K.Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Harry quickly threw a stasis spell on the potion and looked over to the teacher. "What happened, Professor?" he asked, a feeling of foreboding crossing his mind.

"Someone made a complete mess of the parchments with the brewing results, which I keep here in my drawer," the professor replied, letting out an annoyed sigh.

"I'm sorry, Professor; Minerva was sitting on your desk this afternoon when I brewed the fever reducer for the third time, and I didn't watch what she was doing since I knew I really had to finish the potion for once. Well, don't worry about that now, sir; we will see to it when you'll feel better," Harry said calmingly. "Why don't you head back to the hospital wing and lie down? I think that I'll manage to finish the potion without problems."

"I shall make sure that Minerva won't ever touch a thing in my classroom again," the teacher replied and couldn't help feeling grateful towards the boy he had always disliked so much. He gave Harry a thankful nod and floo-ed back to the hospital wing.

An hour later, Harry returned to the hospital wing with a batch of a freshly brewed potion on his arms. When he entered the room, he was astonished how quiet it was. He quickly carried the potion into Poppy's office before he returned in the large room to see what Minerva was doing. To his great surprise, she was lying in her bed, and Poppy was sitting on the edge of her bed, reading to the girl from her '_Hogwarts: A History_' book. Severus was in his own bed and had his eyes closed.

Harry stepped over to Poppy and held his hand out for the book. "Let me continue to read to her, Madam Pomfrey, so that you can go back to bed."

"Are you still feeling all right, Mr. Potter?" Poppy asked sternly, giving him a piercing look. "Minerva complained about a headache and lay down willingly. However, she doesn't have a fever yet; so I'm not sure if she's already getting sick."

"I'm fine," Harry replied, ignoring his headache. "When can we give her the first aging potion?"

"We should do that immediately," Poppy replied.

"All right, I'll get it," Harry said and walked back to Poppy's office to retrieve one of the phials with the aging potion.

"Minerva, can you sit up for me and drink a potion, please?" Poppy tried to coax the girl into taking her potion.

"I don't like potions," Minerva complained; however, she sat up obediently and swallowed when Poppy pressed the phial against her lips.

"Now, lie down again, sweetie, and tell us how you feel.

"Sore," Minerva replied, scrunching her forehead, while her body streched a little.

Ignoring Harry's protests, Poppy stood up and waved her wand at the child. "Yes, sweetie, your joints are all sore. Harry, could you retrieve a pain relieving potion from my potions shelf please?" she asked before she continued and told Minerva the truth about being de-aged due to a potions accident.

"I don't believe that," Minerva replied, shaking her head.

"It's true, Minerva," Harry replied, picking up Minerva's book from her night table. He opened it at the very end and saw that it was a self updating edition. "What year do you think we have, Minerva?" he asked softly.

"I know for a fact that it's 1932," Minerva replied. "I'm born in 1925, and I'm nearly seven."

"Well," Harry smirked, "In fact, it's the end of 1993 as you can see in your book. It's a self updating version, and if you read the last... let's say twenty pages, you will see that you, Minerva McGonagall, are the Gryffindor Head of House and Transfiguration teacher as well as the Deputy Headmistress of this school."

Minerva threw Harry a dirty look and snatched the book out of his hands, engrossing herself in the book during the next hour.

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

"Mr. Potter, can you accompany me to my office for a moment?" Poppy suddenly asked after they had watched Minerva for a while, and Harry followed her curiously. "I don't know if you know anything about the wizard's scarlet fever," she began and seeing that Harry shook his head, she explained, "It lasts between one and three weeks and doesn't feel much different from the wizard's flu, except for a rash that spreads over the whole body after a few days. When the fever starts, you mustn't do any magic; otherwise you will aggravate your condition and prolongue your recovery. I know I did that to check on Minerva, but that's an exception." She handed Harry two thermometers and instructed him, "Place one on your and one on Mineva's night table, please."

Poppy sighed and continued, whispering now since her voice started to fail, "Normally, Professor Snape and I will take turns looking after all of us since we're the adults here, but as long as you feel well I'd like to ask you to help a bit."

"Of course, I will help," Harry replied immediately. "What has to be done?"

"Well," Poppy replied. "Everyone must receive the antidote twice a day. We need to take our temperature three times a day, and if it's too high, which means over 39 degrees, we have to take the fever reducer. The headache potion is only needed if someone complains about a bad headache. Everyone has to eat three meals a day or, if someone feels too ill to eat, we can give a nutrient potion. You find them here on the shelf. I think that's all you need to know. I'll be here anyway."

"All right, thanks, Madam Pomfrey; and now, you should go back to bed. I'll look after everyone for now," Harry said determined and left the office.

"Please take your and Minerva's temperature right away, so that we can give you the first dose of the antidote as soon as the fever starts," Poppy croaked and followed Harry out of the office.

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

Harry returned to Minerva's bed in order to take her temperature, only to see that her bed was empty. He set the thermometer on the night table and groaned, "I'm going to search her." He quickly looked in the washrooms, although his feeling said him that it would be a loss of time. '_But where can she have gone?_' he mused.

Suddenly, he remembered the Marauders' Map that was in his trunk, and he hurried up to his dormitory. He sat down on his own bed, already feeling exhausted, and activated his map. '_She's in the Transfiguration classroom; what's she doing there?_' he thought, exaspirated, and headed to his head of house's classroom.

Minerva was sitting on a chair in the first row with her head popped up on her arms. Harry quietly slipped into the seat next to her and asked softly, "Is everything all right, Minerva? What are you doing here?"

Minerva sighed. "I thought if I came here, I'd remember something. This is my classroom, isn't it? I don't know how I found it, but somehow I managed. But I don't remember anything. Am I really your teacher?"

Harry smiled. "Yes, you're my head of house. I brewed the aging potion for you a short while ago, but they can only make you age back a year in a day until you'll be sixteen in ten days. Then they'll be able to give you a potion that'll turn you back to your real age."

"But everyone will laugh if they see me, won't they?" Minerva asked worriedly.

"No, you don't have to worry about that. All students went home for their holidays. I'm the only student left in the castle, and I promise that I won't laugh," Harry replied in a soft voice and hesitantly put an arm around her shoulders, forgetting for a moment that she was his strict head of house.

Minerva tiredly leaned into the embrace, feeling very reassured by Harry's words. "And the three adults in the big room, who are they?"

Harry cleared his throat. "The old man with the white beard is Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts. Maybe it would be good if you tried to behave when he's around, since I can imagine that you'd be very embarrased otherwise when you're back to your normal self," he added hesitantly. "The other man is Professor Snape, the Potions professor and head of Slytherin. He is not the nicest person one can imagine, so if he says something unfriendly, don't mind him and come to me or to Madam Pomfrey. She is the Mediwitch and according to her she attented Hogwarts together with you and is your older self's best friend."

"Really? She's my best friend? That's great. Why didn't she tell me though?" Minerva frowned.

"Maybe she was just feeling too unwell." Harry sighed again and rubbed his aching forehead, before he told the girl about Poppy's and Severus' illness as well as Minerva's and his potions brewing and the eventual consequences. "Well, it's good that the holidays have just started. Until the students return, you'll already be back to your normal age," he finished his explanation. Harry glanced at his wrist watch and told the child, "All right, Minerva. Let's head back to the hospital wing. You have to eat dinner, and I must look after Madam Pomfrey and Professor Snape and see if they want some dinner too." He motioned Minerva to stand up so that he could move as well, but she didn't react.

"Minerva, can you stand up please? We have to go," Harry repeated patiently.

"No," the girl replied simply, slightly shaking her head.

* * *

_I am not a native speaker of English. So please excuse my mistakes!_

_All recognizable characters belong to J.K.Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"Minerva, did you not understand, what I told you? We have to go," Harry repeated, getting slightly upset, especially as the dull ache in his head had turned into a splendid headache and he wanted nothing more than to lie down for a while.

The small girl only leaned deeper into his robes. "I'm tired," she whispered finally.

'_Tired?_' Harry thought unbelievingly. Getting worried now, he carefully felt the girl's forehead and gasped. "You're sick, Minerva. You're burning up. Anyway, we have to go back to the hospital wing. Can you get up from me, please? I will give you a piggy-ride, okay?"

"Okay," Minerva replied, sounding relieved at the thought not to have to walk back so far by herself.

Harry carried the six-year old all the way down to the hospital wing and carefully put her down on her bed. "All right, Minerva, let me just check your temperature to see if you need a potion," he spoke to the child in a soft voice, while he tried to stick the thermometer into her mouth.

"No!" Minerva protested vehemently.

"What's the problem, sweetie?" Harry asked gently, stroking her warm cheeks.

"I want to speak with you," the girl replied simply.

Harry sighed. "All right then; we'll stick it under your armpit, all right?" he asked and due to the lack of protest pulled her T-shirt down over her shoulder, causing her to let out a small gasp.

"Shall I come over and show you another way to take your temperature?" Severus suddenly hissed, throwing the girl a menacing glare.

"It's all right, sweetie, I won't let him do that," Harry cooed and finally managed to stick the thermometer in. He quickly headed into Poppy's office to fetch the potions she would need as well as a cool cloth, which he carefully adjusted to her forehead.

"38.8, sweetie, you have a fever. Can you take two potions for me, please?"

"No!" Minerva replied terrified, pressing her mouth shut.

"Do you want me to come over there and make you comply?" Severus sneered, giving the girl the look, which he normally used for students coming to detention.

"Ah no, sir, it's all right," Minerva replied quickly and willingly swallowed the potions Harry gave her.

"Now, try to sleep for a while, sweetie," Harry told her and stepped over to Severus' and then Poppy's beds to take their temperature, glad that they complied without even blinking. He gathered the potions, which he would probably need, as well as three more cold cloths and placed everything on the respective night tables, glad to see that Minerva had drifted off to sleep.

"What do I have to do with the empty phials?" he asked Poppy, who gave him a glassy look and replied, "Just put them back on the left side on my desk, sweetie; the house elves will clean them and put them back into the Potions classroom." When Harry returned from her office, Poppy called him over once more and told him, "Please don't forget to note everyone's temperature and the potions you gave them on the cards that are on the night tables. We can't do that with magic I'm afraid. And don't forget to take your own temperature and take the necessary potions, please." She squeezed his hand, too sick to notice that it didn't feel as cold as it should, and said, "Thanks Harry for helping out. As soon as you'll start to feel unwell, I'll take over."

"It's all right, Madam Pomfrey; I'm fine. Now try to sleep for a while, and please wake me up if you need me during the night." Seeing that Severus was still awake, Harry told him the same and finally scrambled into his bed, sighing in relief when his head came to lie down on his pillow. He was asleep within seconds.

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

Minerva woke up early. She looked around, noticing that it was already light outside, but everyone else still seemed to be asleep. '_Well, what am I going to do?_' she mused, wearily eying her book that was lying on her night table. She began to read for a while, but only five minutes later, she put the book back, noticing that her head hurt too much to read. Her eyes still on the night table she noticed that the parchments, which the headmaster had conjured for her yesterday, were still there and were now accompanied by a card with numbers on it. '_Well, he obviously wants me to do maths_,' she thought, picking up the card as well as a crayon. '_37.7 plus 38.2, wow, that's a lot; that must be 3.500_,' she added up, writing the new number underneath the others, before she continued the list with new numbers that she tried to add diligently.

Finally putting the card, which really looked like a lot of finished work, back on her night table, she noticed that there were the same cards on all the other night tables too. '_Ah, I'm going to help them and add the numbers for them. Harry will be so pleased because I'm such a good girl_,' she thought and gathered the three cards. She diligently wrote on Poppy's and Severus' cards and feverishly thought what to do with Harry's that was still completely empty. '_Maybe he doesn't have homework to do because he's looking after me_,' she mused, all of a sudden feeling exhausted from all the work she had done. Suddenly, she noticed that her throat was sore and that she felt hot and cold at the same time.

Minerva carefully placed the cards back on the respective night tables and climbed into Harry's bed, lying down next to the big boy, craving the warmth of his body since she was beginning to shiver from the cold.

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

Harry woke up with a jolt. At the same time as he realized that he felt absolutely horrible with a sore throat and a splendid headache, he noticed that Minerva was cuddling close to him. He lazily arranged his covers so that they covered the small girl completely and asked, "Hey sweetie, are you all right?"

"Yes, Harry, may I sleep with you for a while?"

Seeing that everyone else was still asleep, Harry agreed and once more closed his eyes. He woke up a while later by the headmaster's stern voice. "What do you think you're doing, Minerva? Go back into your own bed immediately."

"It's all right, Professor," Harry croaked lazily. "She wasn't feeling well this morning." Turning to Minerva, he added, "Maybe you should return to your own bed. I have to get up and check on everyone anyway."

"Are you all right and can look after them?" Dumbledore asked and excused himself, when Harry assured him, "Of course, Professor."

Seeing that Minerva obeyed and returned to her own bed, Harry slowly got up, holding on to the night table to fight the feeling of dizziness that passed after a short moment, and sat down on the edge of her bed. Gently speaking to the child, he carefully stuck the thermometer under her armpit and gathered the potions for all of them from Poppy's office, returning just in time to take the thermometer out and make the girl take the antidote and the fever reducer. "Do you still have a headache, sweetie?" he asked gently.

"No, only when I read," she answered.

"Then you shouldn't read today," Harry told her sternly. "What would you like to eat for breakfast?"

"I' m not hungry right now," she replied, already closing her eyes.

'_The antidote seems to make people tired_,' Harry thought, feeling uncomfortable at the thought that he would have to take it as well, and said, "Well, then I have to give you another potion, sweetie." He helped her to sit up just a little bit and pressed the phial with the nutrient potion against her lips. While Minerva went back to sleep, Harry checked on Poppy and Severus, who both had a high fever and were feeling very icky with the rash that had begun to spread over their whole bodies.

"Take your potions and go back to bed, Potter," Severus told him in a firm but not unfriendly voice, while Harry wrote the data on the back of the card, annoyed with the small girl, who had turned the data on the card unreadable.

"Yes, I will," Harry replied and quickly gulped down the antidote and a fever reducer and scrambled back into his bed. '_I have to remember to give Minerva the aging potion later_,' he thought, while he drifted off to sleep.

When Harry woke up from a fever induced nightmare, he reached for his glasses and glanced over to Minerva's bed, noticing in horror that it was empty. '_Oh no! Where did she go now?_' he thought, exasperated, and pulled out the Marauders' map from under his pillow. He let his eyes wander around the Marauders' map and finally found a small black point named '_Minerva McGonagall_', causing him to groan in horror.

* * *

_I am not a native speaker of English. So please excuse my mistakes!_

_All recognizable characters belong to J.K.Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

'_Minerva is out on the grounds near the lake_,' Harry realized in horror. '_Doesn't she know how cold it is outside?_'

"Where do you think you're going?" Harry heard the professor's hoarse voice coming from the bed next to him when he got up and put his robes over the hospital pyjamas.

"I need to go and bring Minerva back; she ran away," Harry quickly explained, feeling his voice beginning to fail.

"Shall I go?" the professor offered, giving Harry a piercing look.

"No thanks, Professor. I'm still in a better condition than you," Harry replied, slightly shivering, and quickly pocketed his wand and the Marauders' map, before he left the room. '_Thank God that the entrance doors aren't as far as they are from Gryffindor_,' Harry thought in relief, while he dragged himself out on the grounds.

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

Minerva was sitting at the edge of the lake. When she had woken up earlier, everyone else had been asleep, and she had decided to explore the grounds for a while. However, she soon became tired and sat down near the lake, thinking about what Harry had told her the evening before. '_I'm going to be the Transfiguration professor_,' she thought happily. '_That's great. I have to go back inside; it's freezing cold here. But it's such a far way up to the hospital wing, and I don't feel so good_,' she thought, tiredly leaning her back on to a tree, while she looked over the water, trying to prevent her teeth from chattering.

Suddenly, a hand on her right arm pulled her out of her reverie. "Minerva, what are you doing here?" she heard Harry's gentle voice that sounded very hoarse.

"Are you sick too?" she asked, glancing up at the big boy's face.

"I'm afraid yes," Harry croaked but refrained from scolding the small girl for running away. He sat down on the ground next to her, leaning his back on to the same tree, before he picked up a stone and transfigured it into a warm blanket, which he draped over the two of them. "Is everything all right, Minerva?" he asked softly.

"Yes, of course," she replied in a crisp voice that reminded Harry of her older self. "It's just a bit cold out here, and I'm tired."

"No, sweetie, you're ill and need to come back with me to the hospital wing. It's not only a bit cold here, it's absolutely freezing. I'd also like to give you your aging potion to make you a big seven-year old. Shall we do that, hmm?"

"You sound funny," Minerva giggled and leaned on to the warmth of his body.

"Now, we don't want to get a cold above everything else; let's go," Harry said determinedly and stood up, scooping the child up in his arms. He carried her back to the hospital wing and put her down on her bed. "Don't lie down yet, I'll go and get your potion," he advised the girl.

Ten minutes later, Minerva was, according to herself, eight years and two months old. "Wow, you're really a big girl now," Harry told her, amazed.

"Harry, it hurts," the girl told him, looking up at him with tear-stricken eyes.

"I'll get you something against the pain," Harry promised and turned to Poppy, who was sitting in her bed watching them closely. "May I give her a pain relieving potion?"

"Yes please," Poppy replied. "And then I want to see you back in your bed."

Harry fed Minerva the potion, noticing how the girl relaxed, and remained at her side until she drifted off to sleep. He gratefully returned to his own bed but could only sleep for a short while until he woke up by his own coughing and sneezing. '_Ah, I just hope Minerva didn't catch a cold as well_,' he thought but felt too unwell to look after the girl right now and remained in his bed, keeping his eyes closed. Suddenly, he noticed that someone was pushing his pyjama top down over his shoulder and stuck something cold into his armpit. Harry lazily opened his eyes, feeling totally confused when he saw the Potion Master's face right in front of his own. "Pfessor?" he croaked hoarsely, causing the teacher to throw him a menacing glare.

"Why do you always think that you're special and everyone else's rules don't apply for you?" he hissed.

"I don't know what you mean, sir," Harry croaked, shivering vehemently, and let out a series of sneezes.

"Everyone else has to stay in bed, take his temperature, and swallow potions on a regular basis, and you ignore everything Madam Pomfrey told you?" the professor continued his rant.

"Severus, let Mr. Potter in peace immediately," Poppy told him in a hoarse but very angry voice, while she came over to Harry's bed as well. "He has been looking after all of us during the last two days in spite of feeling horrible."

"I'm sorry, I really wanted to do everything you told me, but whenever I returned to my bed I felt so exhausted that I fell asleep immediately," Harry explained in a slurred voice.

"What did you do to catch a cold on top of the wizard's scarlet fever?" Poppy asked exasperated.

"Minerva went out to the grounds this morning; I'm astonished that she isn't sneezing," Harry quietly explained but quieted immediately when Severus pulled the thermometer out.

"40.2," the professor stated, exchanging a look with Poppy.

"I will give him the extra strong fever reducer, the one, which is laced with the sleeping draught," Poppy told the man and walked over into her office.

Severus helped Harry to sit up, right in time to swallow his potion, and Harry was asleep in a blink. He didn't even notice that Poppy adjusted a cool cloth to his burning forehead. Harry only woke up a few hours later, when Poppy's exasperated voice penetrated his ear.

"Severus, Minerva ran away again!"

Harry lazily opened his eyes and sat up. "It's all right; I'm going to look for her," he croaked, while he got up and put his glasses on.

"No, Mr. Potter; I don't want you to go anywhere," Poppy tried to hold him back, but Harry didn't listen and hurried out of the hospital wing, before he activated the map to see where the girl had gone now.

'_The owlery_,' he realized. '_Can't she think of better places to chase me around the castle?_' he mused, annoyed, and slowly dragged his achy body up the stairs to the owlery, where he saw the girl sit on a window sill talking to Hedwig.

Minerva sighed in relief when she noticed Harry and showed him a piece of parchment. "This owl is really nice; she came over and sat on my shoulder, but when I asked her to take this letter to my Mum she refused."

Seeing that tears were welling in the girl's eyes, Harry took a seat next to her and calmly put his arm around her shoulder. "Hi Hedwig," he croaked to greet his familiar. "She's Hedwig, my owl, and she probably recognized you." Harry sighed and let out a few sneezes, which Minerva echoed. "I was already wondering if you didn't catch a cold," Harry said dryly.

'_Well, considering how old wizards and witches can become, she could still be alive_,' he mused and explained, "Minerva, you know what year we have, don't you? I don't know where your mother is now; you have to ask either Professor Dumbledore or Madam Pomfrey. I'm sure that both of them will know."

"All right; can we go to see Professor Dumbledore right away?" Minerva asked, and Harry couldn't resist the hopeful look in her glassy green eyes.

"All right, but afterwards we'll go back to bed immediately."

Unfortunately, the headmaster was not in his office. "Well, you can ask Madam Pomfrey, sweetie; as I told you she is your best friend and will surely know," Harry coaxed the girl to accompany him back to the hospital wing, where the adults were worriedly waiting for them to return.

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

When they entered the large room, Poppy and Severus were sitting in their beds eating soup for dinner. "Minerva, I'd like you to eat some soup as well. Why don't you sit here with Madam Pomfrey and eat together with her?" Harry coaxed the girl into eating her dinner, glad when she complied. He quietly walked into the office and fetched the potions everyone had to take before going to sleep for the night, placing them on the respective night tables, and scrambled back into his bed.

Harry only barely noticed that Severus forced the thermometer under his armpit and that Poppy gently helped him to sit up so that Severus could make him swallow his potions. However, he woke up startled, when he felt a small animal jump onto his stomach in the early morning.

* * *

_If you're still reading this story, it would be nice if you could leave me a review :-) _

I _am not a native speaker of English. So please excuse my mistakes!_

_All recognizable characters belong to J.K.Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Harry lazily opened his eyes only to see a cat sitting on his chest. His first thought was '_McGonagall_,' but then he mused, '_No, that can't be; she's only eight at the moment; she won't be able to transform yet_.' However, the cat, which strangely looked like the Animagus form of his head of house, extended a foot to Harry and let out a miserable "Meow."

Harry sat up and reached for his glasses. '_That is Minerva_,' he decided, glancing over to her bed that was, of course, empty. '_She must be a natural Animagus; how awesome_.' Looking closer at the cat, he noticed that the foot she stretched out to him was wounded. "Oh Minerva, what have you done now?" he groaned. "Did you fight with Mrs. Norris?"

The cat nodded its head and meowed again. '_Oh my, how do I heal a cat?_' Harry thought frantically. "I'm sorry, Minerva, but I have to take you to Hagrid. I have no idea how to heal a cat." Carefully as not to hurt the cat further, he climbed out of bed.

"Where do you think you're going, Potter?" the Potions professor hissed as soon as Harry pulled his robes over his pyjamas.

"To Hagrid, sir. Minerva is in her Animagus form and is injured, and I don't have a clue how to heal a cat."

Severus got up, holding on to his night table for an instant to overcome the dizziness before he stepped over to Harry's bed. "You can heal that with Murtlap Essence; however, I have to brew it first."

"If you just tell me where I can find the recipe, I can try to brew it, Professor," Harry replied, groaning inwardly. '_I'm really going to hate this little monster; it's bad enough to feel so horrible today, and now I have to brew another potion just because she couldn't stay in bed but had to fight with another cat; I can't believe it_.'

"Potter? Are you listening?" The professor's words brought Harry out of his reverie.

"Oh sorry," Harry replied sheepishly.

"I just said that it's too difficult to brew, especially as you're very ill; I will brew the potion, but if you felt as if you had to do something, you could help me with the ingredients."

"All right, sir," Harry replied, slightly nodding his head. '_Ow, that hurt_,' he soon realized. Suddenly, he noticed that the professor was watching him with an expression of impatience – or was it concern? Harry couldn't place it but began to drag his aching body towards the exit.

"Wait, Potter!" the professor suddenly hissed. He raised his wand and stunned the cat that was still sitting on Harry's bed. "Come over here; none of us is in a condition to walk down to the dungeons. If you keep close to me, I'll be able to take you with me through the floo network."

Harry gratefully followed the teacher into Poppy's office. Severus stepped into the fireplace and motioned Harry to join him. In the blink of an eye they arrived in the Potions Master's office.

"Thank you, Professor," Harry croaked while he held on to a chair to pull himself up from the floor, not noticing that the teacher extended a hand to help.

"You start the cauldron; I'll gather the ingredients," the professor advised Harry.

Five minutes later, they were sitting next to each other in front of the cauldron. "Now, prepare the ingredients in the exact order, in which they are," Severus instructed, and Harry noticed that his voice, which still sounded as hoarse as his own, was lacking any malice.

Harry began to prepare the ingredients immediately, glad that the teacher was too occupied with concentrating on the brewing process to watch his every move. However, unbeknownst to Harry, Severus was of course watching closely what the student was doing, and at one stage he hissed, "No, don't crush them; you have to cut them in very small pieces!"

Harry nearly chocked at the sudden outburst and immediately reached for the knife to cut the frog eggs as the professor had said. An hour later, a green potion was simmering in the cauldron, and Harry sighed in relief when the professor nodded contentedly, before he winced at the pain the small movement caused.

"Are you all right, Professor?" Harry asked worriedly.

"About as all right as you, Potter," Severus smirked and began to bottle the potion into small glasses, while Harry cleaned up their working space.

When they stepped out of the fireplace in Poppy's office, Harry noticed that it was still dark outside. Severus placed the glasses with the essence on Poppy's potions shelf, before he emptied the contents of one glass into a small bowl, which he took with him when he left the office. He put the bowl on Harry's night table and instructed the boy, "You have to try out how to do it the best way; I assume it would be the easiest if you sat down on the floor, took that insufferable cat on your arm and held her foot into the bowl."

"All right, Professor," Harry replied wearily. He placed the bowl on the floor and waved his wand at the cat to cancel the teacher's stunning spell, before he took Minerva in his arms and proceeded to sit on the floor. "Now, this is Murtlap essence, and it should heal your foot, Minerva. It won't hurt you," he promised and carefully stuck the injured foot into the bowl. An instant later, he noticed that the cat began to purr contentedly. Harry had no idea how long it would take for the injury to heal, so he leaned his back against his bed and waited patiently, while he felt his condition worsen steadily. When he started to shiver uncontrollably, the cat gave him an assessing look but still bathed her foot in the healing essence.

After an infinite amount of time, Severus came around Harry's bed. He noticed that Harry's face had turned completely white except for his flushed cheeks and that the boy had gone into shaking chills and couldn't prevent his teeth from chattering any more. "That should be enough," he stated, lifting the cat from Harry's arms. "Potter, get back to bed this instant," he ordered the child, picking up the bowl from the floor.

Feeling too sick to care about anything, Harry pulled himself up and scrambled back into bed, sighing in relief when he was able to stretch out under his covers. Only instants later, a small cat jumped onto his chest. "Hey sweetie, are you feeling better now?" Harry whispered in concern, glad when the cat gave him a nod and began to purr contentedly. "Why don't you change back into your human form, sweetie?" Harry suggested, but the cat only cuddled closer to him, purring contentedly when Harry began to murmur to her incoherently.

Harry was just about drifting off to sleep, when Severus' hoarse voice penetrated his ears. "Open up, Potter," the professor ordered him, sticking the thermometer into his mouth as he complied.

With an expression of '_No, you will not make Harry stop speaking to me_,' the cat reached out with her front paw, kicking the thermometer away that shattered on the floor.

"Now, you're really naughty, Minerva," Poppy, who had woken up by the commotion, said angrily and took the cat with her and placed her on Minerva's bed. "Harry is very ill, so you have to deal with me for the moment, young lady, and the first thing you'll do is transform back into your human form. Now!"

Minerva complied and transformed back. Poppy looked closely at her injured leg but couldn't find anything wrong. "Now, I want to check your temperature and give you your potions," she said sternly, sticking the thermometer under the girl's tongue, ignoring the tears that welled in the girl's eyes at her stern voice. "38.4; well, you better stay in bed today," she told the girl a few minutes later and made her drink the antidote, a nutrient potion, her aging potion, and a sleeping potion. "I'm sorry, Minerva," she mumbled, when the little girl drifted off to sleep, "but we all need time to rest and get back to health."

"Poppy!" Severus called her over as soon as she stood up from Minerva's bed. She walked around Harry's bed, seeing that he seemed to be asleep peacefully, and sat down on the edge of Severus' bed. Quickly studying the card on his night table, she held out the thermometer for him. "Open up please, Severus."

Severus took the long thing from her and stuck it under his armpit. "You have something in common with Minerva, Poppy. Sometimes, you're as annoying as she is. Anyway, Potter had a fever of over forty degrees again, and I gave him the strong fever reducer once more, laced with a few drops of the sleeping draught."

"Thanks, Severus; the poor boy. I can't wait to have our normal Minerva back. What happened this morning, by the way?"

"The insufferable cat obviously put up a fight with Mrs. Norris and injured her foot. Potter and I brewed Murtlap essence, and Potter bathed her injured foot in it; that's all. 39.6," he sighed, handing Poppy the thermometer back.

"Not much better than Harry then," she replied and went to get Severus' potions. "Try to sleep for a while, Severus. We'll have to help Harry later, when Minerva wakes up."

"Yes," Severus mumbled tiredly. "How're you, Poppy?"

"I've already taken my potions, and I will sleep a bit more too; don't worry," she replied and went back to bed.

HP

Harry woke up by Minerva's groaning. He got up and stepped over to her bed immediately. "What's wrong, little one?" he asked worriedly and lacking a reply he decided, '_I have to take a headache potion first; maybe I should give her the aging potion at the same time, while she isn't fully awake, so that she won't feel her joints ache so much_.'

He fetched the two potions, gulped down the headache potion, and brought back the aging potion for Minerva, helping the half asleep child to sit up and swallow the liquid. Harry was still considering if he should go back to bed, when the girl all of a sudden began to cry out, wincing in agony.

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_I am not a native speaker of English. So please excuse my mistakes!_

_All recognizable characters belong to J.K.Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"What's wrong?" Harry asked horrified, gladly noticing that Poppy got up and came over to Minerva's bedside.

"What happened, Harry?" the healer enquired.

Harry gave her a confused look. "I have no idea," he replied. "I just gave her the aging potion, because I thought it would be better to give it to her while she was still half asleep, so that she wouldn't sense the ache in her joints so much."

Poppy gasped and explained quickly, "That was very thoughtful, Harry. The problem is that I already gave her the aging potion this morning. She will probably be in a lot of pain and might get a very high fever for a few hours. I'm sorry, Harry; I shouldn't have given it to her, but you were in such a bad condition that Severus and I wanted you to remain in bed today. Go back and rest, Harry; I will look after her," Poppy said softly.

"No, I will not leave Minerva when she is so unwell," Harry replied firmly and went to retrieve a cold cloth to bathe her hot face.

Poppy and Harry spent the next few hours sitting on the edges of Minerva's bed, worriedly listening to her moaning while she slept and watching the figures on the wristband Poppy had put on her left arm. As soon as she woke up, Poppy poured a fever reducing potion and a stronger pain relieving potion through her throat that made the girl sigh in relief.

"I'm so sorry, sweetie," Harry whispered. "I didn't know that Madam Pomfrey already gave you the aging potion this morning."

"It's all right, Harry," Minerva mumbled tiredly. "May I sleep some more?"

"Of course you may, dear," Poppy spoke up. "Is there anything you need, Minerva?"

"May I have some water please?" Minerva asked hoarsely, giving Harry a pleading look.

"Of course," he replied, and while Poppy helped her to sit up, Harry pressed the glass of water from her night table against her lips. "It's all right now; try to sleep some more, sweetie," he said soothingly, once more adjusting the cool cloth on her forehead.

"Go back to bed, Harry," Poppy ordered the boy sternly, and Harry gladly complied.

Harry was nearly asleep when he noticed Poppy sitting down on the edge of his bed, wiping his face with a cool cloth. "Feels good; thanks," he mumbled before he drifted off to fevered dreams. He dreamed about his life at the Dursleys, not aware of the fact that everyone around him could hear him begging his uncle not to hurt him because he would try harder to finish each of his chores the next day.

After witnessing several more of such dreams, Poppy and Severus exchanged a horrified look, while Minerva stood up and climbed into bed with Harry, carefully wiping his face with the cold cloth. "Wake up, sweetie; it's only a nightmare. You're safe at Hogwarts," she cooed, causing Harry to stir.

"No," Harry croaked, pointing over to Severus, who sat in his bed, watching them in concern. "Look, there's my uncle, and he's going to hurt me, because I didn't finish my chores; couldn't clean the kitchen because I had to go play with a cat, and now everything is moving around so that I cannot reach it. Need my wand to stop the tiles from moving around."

Minerva carefully stroked his hot cheeks, while Poppy stepped to Harry's other side. "Harry, Minerva is right. You're at Hogwarts. It's just your fever that makes you see things." She put a wrist band on Harry's wrist and watched how the numbers climbed up.

While Harry told Minerva more incoherent facts about his home life, Poppy fetched a strong fever reducer and spelled it directly into Harry's stomach, causing him to finally quieten down and fall asleep, cuddling Minerva close in his arms.

"What was that about?" Minerva asked curiously, seeing that Poppy sat down on the edge of Harry's bed.

"He probably thought he was at home. I believe that he is abused and neglected at his relatives' house," Poppy replied pensively. "Whenever he returned from there so far, he had bruises and welts all over his body, and he was always malnourished."

"Are you sure, Poppy? You're speaking about Harry Potter," Severus spoke up hoarsely.

"Yes Severus. He is not a pampered young man as you always seem to believe," Poppy replied sternly.

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

Harry slept through the rest of the day. Whenever his mind turned to a delirious consciousness, he noticed that someone was with him, trying to cool his hot skin and soothingly whispering to him.

During the night, he woke up several times, seeing that Minerva was sleeping in his arms. However, when he woke up noticing that the early morning light was just beginning to stream into the huge windows of the hospital wing, the small girl was gone. He wearily sat up and reached for his glasses only to see that Minerva wasn't around at all, while Poppy and Severus seemed to be asleep peacefully. Harry fingered for the Marauders' map and his wand, which were both under his pillow, and quietly activated the map. He found Minerva in Gryffindor, climbing up the stairs to the girls' dormitories.

Harry quickly downed a headache potion and a fever reducer, watching as the figures on his wrist band went down from 40.3 to 39.2, and dragged himself up the stairs to the Gryffindor common room. He glanced at the map, seeing that the girl remained in the first years' dormitory. '_What am I going to do?_' he thought, knowing that he wouldn't be able to climb up the stairs to the girls' dormitories. Finally, he had an idea and went into his own dormitory. He fetched the school broom that he had been using since his own broom had been destroyed in a Quidditch match earlier in the school year. Resisting the urge to lie down on his bed, he mounted the broom and flew up the stairs to the dormitory.

"Minerva!" he softly called the girl. "Is everything all right?"

"Harry," she replied happily; "I'm sorry that I made you follow me here. I was just looking for my friends, Poppy and Rolanda. You know, I started Hogwarts a while ago; I'm already eleven."

"Oh, you're already eleven?" Harry asked astonished. "I thought you were still ten. Your friend Poppy is our Madam Pomfrey; she's in the hospital wing with us; you know that, don't you?"

"Yes, I still remember what you told me about the fact that I'm already an old woman."

"Hey," Harry said, carefully stroking her cheeks that felt cool to his own, hot hands. "You're not an old woman. You're a well respected and very fair teacher, and I'm glad to have you as my head of house."

"Harry," Minerva began to reply, sighing. "Even if I understand what you're saying, it's very difficult to comprehend. I really feel like eleven, you know. However, I suppose that I will be very proud having such a fine student like you in my house."

Harry smirked. "I understand what you must feel, and the fact that we're sick doesn't help either."

"True," Minerva agreed. "You are much worse than I am though, and the adults were very worried about you last night."

"Ah, I'm fine," Harry replied hoarsely. "Nevertheless, I'd prefer to return to my bed, and I'd like to see you back in your bed as well."

"All right, but, wait, let me just ask you something I thought about," she said thoughtfully. "Harry, why are you staying at Hogwarts all on your own, although all other students have gone home for the holidays? Is it true, what you said about your uncle beating you and such?"

Harry threw her a horrified glance. "What did I tell you, Minerva? I remember that I had lots of fever induced nightmares about my relatives, but I can't recall speaking to anyone about it." He sighed. "Well, my relatives hate me, and I hate going back there, but Professor Dumbledore always sends me there during the summer."

"You said something that they locked you in and put your trunk away, so that you couldn't do your homework."

"That's true," Harry confirmed. "But please don't tell anyone about it; as long as Dumbledore decides that I have to go back there, I just have to comply. And he knows as well as your older self knows about it; my Hogwarts letter was addressed to me in the cupboard under the stairs."

Minerva let out a huge gasp. "I don't want to become like that Harry. Can you help me become a nicer person?"

Harry sighed, feeling too sick to continue the conversation. "Sorry, Minerva, but I really want to go back to the hospital wing."

"All right," Minerva agreed. Suddenly, she noticed the broom in Harry's hand and gave him a questioning look.

"Boys cannot enter the girls' dormitories, so I had to come up with something in order to follow you up here," Harry explained.

"Ah, all right. But how do you always know where I am?" she enquired, giving him a curious smile.

"Ah, that, my dear, will have to remain my secret. All right, can we leave now?"

"Yes, we can, but it's so far," Minerva mumbled, tiredly leaning on to Harry.

"I'm sorry, sweetie, I don't feel well either, but please remember that it was you, who chose to come here," Harry replied, getting slightly impatiently.

"Can you fly us?" Minerva all of a sudden questioned, giving Harry a pleading glance.

"All right, but first you have to walk down to the common room. It was difficult enough to fly up here alone; I can't fly down the stairs together with you."

A few minutes later, the two children left the common room through the portrait hole. Harry mounted his broom and motioned the girl to sit in front of him, before he started to fly through the halls and down the huge staircase until the entrance hall, ignoring the gasps Minerva let out every time they started to descend. Harry had just begun to pull his broom up in order to climb up onto the floor, in which the hospital wing was, when he suddenly felt very dizzy. Everything became completely blurry and he felt that his vision was going to fail any second.

"Minerva, you must fly the broom for me and try to get down to the floor; I'm going to pass out," he managed to urgently hiss to the girl a mere second before blackness overcame his vision.

* * *

_I am not a native speaker of English. So please excuse my mistakes!_

_All recognizable characters belong to J.K.Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Fortunately, Minerva knew how to fly and loved flying even if she wasn't as adept as Harry. She took over immediately and brought the broom safely to the ground, while she tried to keep Harry on the broom behind her with one hand. Only just before Minerva landed on the floor, Harry fell off, lightly hitting his head on the floor.

"Harry! Harry, are you all right?" Minerva shouted, feverishly trying to wake him up. Suddenly, she remembered a spell that her best friend, Poppy, had taught her. She quickly searched in Harry's robe pockets for his wand, waved it, shouting, "Enervate."

Harry slowly opened his eyes, seeing Minerva leaning over him in panic. "Minerva," he croaked, putting a hand up to his aching head, when he suddenly remembered what had happened. "You made it to the ground, Minerva, thanks," he mumbled, giving the girl a small smile that didn't reach his eyes.

"Harry, are you all right?" Minerva asked worriedly. "You passed out while we were flying."

"I told you before that we're not supposed to do magic, didn't I? That's probably the reason. Does that make sense? Sorry, Minerva, I'm too dizzy. Let's head back, and please don't tell anyone what happened. Let's make it our secret, okay?"

"All right," Minerva agreed, giving him an assessing look. "But it would be better if Poppy knew and could look after you, wouldn't it?"

"No," Harry groaned. "They'd only make a fuss and we don't want that. So don't tell them anything about flying. I only have my broom because I had to fly up to the girls' dormitory."

"Okay," Minerva giggled and opened the door to the hospital wing. Seeing that Poppy and Severus were just having breakfast, she went over to Poppy's bed. "Good morning, Madam Pomfrey. Is it true that you're Poppy, my best friend?"

"Yes, of course, sweetie; come, sit down and have breakfast with me," Poppy replied, glancing at Minerva's wrist band, before she called a house elf and ordered breakfast for the child.

In the meantime, Harry walked over to his own bed, took his robes off, put his broom under his bed, and lay down, not noticing that Severus was watching his every move. "Tell me what you are doing with a broom, Potter?" the professor's voice suddenly penetrated his ear.

"Had to chase Minerva in the girls' dormitories," Harry mumbled tiredly, slurring the words.

Severus had just pushed his breakfast away and was swinging his feet out of his bed to check on the child and speak with him, when he noticed that Harry's breathing had evened out.

"Poppy, I'm feeling fine and I'm well able to spend the day in my lab," he talked to the healer, walking around the children's beds.

"No Severus, you're not fine yet. This illness takes its course over two weeks, and if you get up today, you'll be here with forty degrees of fever tomorrow. You're welcome to try it out if you must. You can't compare your condition with that of the children. They don't get it as bad as we."

"I think Harry is in a pretty bad condition," Minerva blurted out.

"Why is that?" Poppy asked astonished.

Minerva shrugged. "I just had the impression that he was feeling pretty unwell. Much worse than I," she added, carefully not to break her promise with Harry.

Seeing that Poppy was about to get up, Severus held up his hand. "It's all right, Poppy; I will check on the boy. If you just could look after the little Gryffindor trouble..."

"Yes, of course I will," Poppy replied, smiling at the younger teacher.

While Severus checked on Harry, Poppy asked Minerva, "Did Harry tell you everything?"

"About the de-aging you mean?" Seeing that Poppy nodded her head, she answered, "Yes, he told me that I'm in fact his stern old head of house."

"Do I look very old?" Poppy asked, feigning to be offended. "You're not old; very strict, yes, but you're the best friend someone could have, and I already miss your older self a lot. You already know that I'm your best friend, so if you need to speak with me, I'm here for you anytime, Minerva."

"Thank you, Poppy," Minerva replied, tears welling in her eyes. "Can I have the next aging potion now? I want to be the same age as Harry."

Poppy sighed. "You adore him, don't you? Please don't forget, Minnie, that he's your student and more than fifty years younger than you."

"Why can't I just stay his age? Without taking the potion anymore I mean. I could attend Hogwarts once more..."

"Minerva, you shouldn't do that," Poppy replied pensively. "You made many experiences in your life so far, which changed you to the adorable woman you are or your older self is. You survived two wars, in which you played important roles, at least in the second one, you overcame a bad illness, and it's because of you that we all are how we are. You helped Albus Dumbledore to make Hogwarts to the brilliant school it is now. Not only your students, but everyone here in the school and many people all over the magical world are relying on you. Moreover, I would miss you terribly, and I'm not the only one."

"All right, Poppy, I'll try not to think about it anymore. But if I'm older I will go into a huge fight with the headmaster. What is he thinking? Sending Harry to a family, who hates and abuses him; I really can't believe him."

"Did Harry tell you so?"

"Yes, he did."

"Then keep that well in mind, please, and try to help the boy. He really needs it, and if you need help with your fight in this matter, I will support you full heartedly. And now return to your bed please, so that I can check on you and give you your potions."

"Can you do something against the itching?" Minerva asked when Poppy was tucking her in. "Look, the rash is starting all over my arms, and it feels so icky."

"I'm sorry, sweetie; there is nothing I can do about that. No healing salve helps against this kind of rash. I wondered already if you were going to get worse at all. Now Minerva, I want you to remain in bed for the rest of the day," Poppy told her sternly, looking at the figures on the wrist band. "You have quite a fever today, sweetie. Shall I give you the aging potion nevertheless?" Seeing that the girl gave her a small nod, Poppy held the phial out for her and remained to worriedly watch her grow another year and a few months.

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

During the next two days, Minerva and Harry were both spiking a very high fever, especially Harry, and even Minerva felt so unwell that she for once obeyed and stayed in bed. Poppy and Severus took turns looking after the two children in spite of still being very ill too.

Two days later, Harry woke up very early in the morning, when Minerva climbed into his bed. "Hey sweetie," he mumbled lazily. "How are you feeling?"

"Bit better," she replied hoarsely; "And you?"

"The same," Harry croaked. "Don't tell me you're up to mischief right now. How old are you anyway?"

"Thirteen just like you; well, I'll be fourteen in two months' time. Harry, I'm sorry, but I need you to help me prank Filch, you know, the ugly owner of Mrs. Norris."

Harry groaned. "If you're feeling so well, can you get me a headache potion first please?"

"Yes, I'll try to find one; and a fever reducer as well I suppose," she replied, glancing at his wrist band.

Harry gulped both potions down and grudgingly followed the girl down the empty halls to the caretaker's office. "What are we going to do?" he asked, giving Minerva an enquiring look.

"Do you have your wand?" she asked and seeing him nod continued, "Well, let's just make some chaos in his office. When I was fighting with Mrs. Norris in my cat form, he helped her, kicking me with his feet and telling her to bite me. I just want to get him back for that."

Harry sighed. '_I wonder how Madam Pomfrey could keep up with her when they were in school. She has to be quite tough_.'

"May I borrow your wand, Harry?" Minerva asked as soon as they entered the office. "He's a squib, isn't he?" she confirmed, and when Harry nodded, she continued, "I will transfigure everything on his desk into small wooden dogs. Don't you think he'll like it?"

Harry let out a snort, giving his de-aged head of house an unbelieving look. "I'm sure he will," he said tiredly, leaning on to the doorframe. '_She's really brilliant at Transfiguration_,' he mused, watching the girl transfigure every single parchment on the desk into a wooden dog. Ten minutes later, the desk was full of wooden dogs, and after another flick of her wrist, the dogs were animatedly talking to each other.

They had just closed the door behind them, turning back in the direction of the hospital wing, when Minerva all of a sudden leaned on to Harry, mumbling, "I don't feel well." Only seconds later, she collapsed to the ground, where she quickly lost consciousness.

_I am not a native speaker of English. So please excuse my mistakes!_

_All recognizable characters belong to J.K.Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Harry knew that he was in no condition to carry Minerva all the way back to the hospital wing. He let out a deep sigh and began to let the girl float in front of himself until they reached the doors of Poppy's ward. Pointing his wand at the girl, he whispered, "Enervate," waking her up, so that they could both walk into the room as if nothing happened. Fortunately, the two adults were still asleep anyway.

"Thank you, Harry," Minerva whispered, when she lay down in her bed.

"You're welcome," Harry mumbled back, totally exhausted from the use of magic, before he drifted off into a world of fever induced nightmares.

Neither of the children heard the door of the hospital wing open a few minutes later, but their minds slowly turned back to consciousness, when the headmaster's voice penetrated their ears. "How are the four of you faring, Poppy? Severus?"

"Severus and I are slowly getting better, Albus. It will still be a few days until we can get up and a week until we can do magic again without getting a relapse. The children are still in a bad condition. They both have the rash all over their bodies and are spiking a high fever, especially Harry. Miraculously, the illness apparently didn't hit Minerva as badly as it hit Harry."

"I'm sorry for leaving you deal with this all on your own. I spent the whole week at the Ministry. They were expecting an attack on the Ministry and on St. Mungo's over Christmas, but it didn't come. So we all missed Christmas this year," the headmaster said gravely. "There are lots of presents under the tree in the Great Hall though."

Harry couldn't help letting out a groan. '_As if we didn't have other problems at the moment_,' he thought, completely annoyed with the headmaster.

Minerva threw Harry an understanding glance and couldn't help giggling.

"On a different note," the headmaster continued his monologue. "Mr. Filch was waiting in front of my office when I returned. He complained that someone had transfigured all his belongings in his office into animated wooden dogs. Since you're the only wizards remaining in the castle..." He threw Harry and Minerva an assessing look.

"Headmaster," Severus spoke up, still sounding hoarse. "Potter has been having a fever of more than forty degrees during the last two days. Do you really believe him to be in a condition to play pranks on the caretaker? The little angel of your deputy turned child is not in a much better condition either."

"Very well," the headmaster replied and excused himself for the rest of the day.

"Thank you, Professor," Harry mumbled gratefully, slightly turning his achy head to face the Potions Master.

Severus raised an eyebrow at the child in reply.

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Before Minerva could fall back to sleep, Poppy forced the potions through her throat, including the aging potion that turned the girl into a fifteen-year old. As before, Poppy and Severus took turns taking care of the children, who remained engrossed in feverish dreams throughout the day.

When Harry woke up, it was already dark outside, and he could hear that at least Severus in the bed next to him was peacefully asleep. However, he suddenly noticed that a hand was fingering under his pillow where he kept his wand. He quickly turned to face the intruder. "Minerva," he croaked astonished. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, sorry sweetie, I didn't want to wake you up," the girl apologized immediately. "May I borrow your wand please?"

Harry reached out for his glasses, noticing in surprise how much the girl had grown during the day. "Only if you tell me what you're going to do with it and allow me to watch over you," he whispered back.

Minerva sighed. "All right, but all I want to do is go to the library and do some research. I don't even know if I'll need your wand; I just want to be on the safe side."

Harry slowly got up. "I will accompany you, Minerva." He slowly dragged himself out of the hospital wing and followed the girl to the library. While Minerva occupied herself looking through the History of Magic shelf, Harry spent the next few hours searching for an instruction on how to invent his own charm.

"What are you trying to do?" Minerva asked astonished, when she returned to his side in the early morning hours.

"Show me your wrist band," Harry chuckled. When Minerva complied, throwing him an astonished glance, he pointed his wand at the numbers and mumbled, "Febrimuto plus ten."

Minerva watched surprised as the figures on the wrist band changed from 38.6 to 48.6. "Oh my," she said amazed and horrified at the same time. "Can you please turn it back, before everyone thinks I'm dead?"

Harry laughed until he ended up in a coughing fit. "Don't worry, sweetie; you don't look very dead right now." He waved his wand at Minerva's wrist band, mumbling, "Finite incantatem Harry's charm," and the display returned back to normal. Harry pointed his wand to his own wrist band, "Febrimuto minus two," and Minerva watched how the numbers changed from 40.1 to 38.1.

"Are you finished with whatever it was that you were researching?" Harry turned back to Minerva.

"Yes, I think it's time to head back to the hospital wing and get some sleep," the girl answered and waited patiently until the dizziness had passed that hit Harry as soon as he stood up.

It was still dark when the two children slipped back under their covers. While Harry fell in an exhausted sleep within seconds, Minerva remained awake for a while, thinking about Harry. '_Why did he spend hours doing research on charms and inventing such a charm? He's only going to hurt himself_,' she wondered. '_He probably despises the hospital wing just as much as you do_,' a tiny inner voice spoke up. '_Moreover, he knows that you'll be back to your normal self in a short while, and he probably doesn't want to remain here with three adults. I only like it here because he's here_,' she thought.

A few hours later, Minerva gulped down the next dose of the aging potion. "How old are you now exactly, Minerva?" Poppy asked, gently bathing her friend's face with a cool cloth.

"Sixteen years and three months," Minerva replied solemnly.

"I've been thinking about leaving you at that age for a few days, Minerva," Poppy said thoughtfully. "So far, you have been faring much better than everyone else of us, but I don't know how your illness will develop when you're back to your older self. It might prolong your recovery."

Minerva gave the healer a questioning look. "How long do I still have to stay in bed, Poppy?"

Poppy thought for a moment before she replied, "You still have your rash and a fever as has Harry, although his fever came down nicely. I suppose I might let you go just in time for the beginning of classes on Monday. However, even if I might allow you to teach then, you won't be able to do any magic for a few more days. Anyway, I suggest that we leave you at the age of sixteen until your fever comes down completely."

"However, I should take the final potion on Friday or Saturday at the latest. I'll probably have to get used to being an old woman again," Minerva replied worriedly. "And I'm not sure, but I think I should return to my own room on Saturday or Sunday. I'll surely have to prepare my lessons, haven't I?"

Poppy sighed. "I will let you go as soon as your condition is well enough. Only now, I finally feel well enough to get up, and I'll probably release Severus tomorrow if he continues to improve and promises not to do any magic until the weekend."

Suddenly, Harry began to turn and toss around in his bed, causing Poppy and Minerva to rush to his bedside. "Harry, wake up; it's only a dream again, sweetie," Minerva cooed, lightly shaking his shoulder, before she placed a hand on his cheek, noticing that he felt very warm to her.

The feeling of something cold in his face caused Harry to slowly turn back to awareness. "I'm sorry; did I wake you up?" he mumbled tiredly.

"No, sweetie; did you have a nightmare?" Minerva asked softly.

"Yes," Harry mumbled, already closing his eyes again.

"Please wait a moment, Mr. Potter, and let me give you your potions," Poppy ordered the boy and fed him all the necessary potions. "Now, Mr. Potter, seeing that your fever came down so nicely, I want you to eat a proper breakfast this morning," she said sternly, while Harry already lay back, closing his eyes in relief.

"Later, Madam Pomfrey," Harry mumbled, already drifting off to sleep.

Poppy remained on the edge of his bed for a moment, worriedly watching the child, while Minerva returned to her own bed and suddenly began to sob uncontrollably. "What's wrong, Minnie?" she asked in concern, causing the girl to mumble something incomprehensible.

_I am not a native speaker of English. So please excuse my mistakes!_

_All recognizable characters belong to J.K.Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

"Now, I didn't understand that, Minerva. What's wrong? Please stop crying; it will only aggravate your condition," Poppy told her friend in a soft voice, gently wiping the tears from her face.

"I love him," Minerva whispered, averting her tear-stricken eyes to her best friend. "I've completely fallen in love with Harry. But I can't do that; he's my student," she continued to cry.

"Maybe we should better go ahead and give you the aging potion right tomorrow morning, sweetie," Poppy replied thoughtfully.

"No Poppy, it's all right; I'm old enough to be able to deal with it. My head knows that he is my student; it's just my heart that screams telling me I love him. Poppy, can you give me a pain relieving potion, please? My joints ache so much today. I'm glad that I only need one last dose of the aging potion."

A minute later, Poppy returned with a pain relieving potion, laced with a light sleeping draught, causing Minerva to fall into an undisturbed slumber.

Both children spent most of the day asleep, until Poppy woke them up and forced them to eat a small dinner. Afterwards, Minerva climbed into Harry's bed, so that they could sit next to each other and read her '_Hogwarts: A History' _book together.

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

In the morning, Severus turned to Harry. "Mr. Potter, would you be willing to brew a few potions with me? I need to brew the aging potion for Minerva as well as several potions for the hospital wing; however, since Madam Pomfrey only released me for three hours, I could well use such a good assistant as you are, provided that you feel well enough."

Harry threw the professor a confused look. "Of course," he mumbled then. "Let me just take my potions and then I'll meet you in the Potions classroom." He headed to Poppy's office, nearly running into the healer, who just came out with his potions. "Thanks Madam Pomfrey," Harry mumbled gratefully, quickly gulping down the potions. "Minerva, I'm going to help Professor Snape brew a few potions; will you come with me?" he asked, turning to the girl.

"Don't you think he'd mind?" Minerva asked hesitantly.

"He should better not mind as long as you don't disturb them. I want you to go, if you feel well enough, and keep an eye on Harry and Severus, so that they won't aggravate their condition. Can you do that for me?" Poppy asked softly.

"Of course, Poppy," Minerva replied cheerfully and urged Harry out of the room.

"What do you think you're doing here?" Severus hissed, seeing Minerva enter his classroom.

"Poppy ordered me to keep an eye on the two of you so that you don't overdo yourselves," the girl replied smugly, sitting down at an empty table, while Harry began to prepare the ingredients Severus would need first.

Fortunately, Minerva kept quiet, and Severus decided to ignore the girl so far. Two hours later, Minerva noticed that Harry seemed to be getting tired and asked worriedly, "Are you all right, Harry?"

Harry was still pondering on how to reply, when Severus looked up, giving him an assessing look. "Show me your wrist band," he demanded. "37.2," he read unbelievingly, and before Harry knew what happened, a cool slender hand found its way to his forehead. "I believe there's a problem with your wrist band," he stated. "Please follow me into my office."

When Harry complied, Severus motioned him to a chair, pulled a thermometer out of his desk, and stuck it into Harry's mouth. "Potter, I'm surprised how adept you are at brewing, and I hope that you'll show a much better performance in class from now on," he told the child while they were waiting. "Fifty points for Gryffindor for brewing potions while I was... otherwise occupied. However, if you tell that anyone, I will deny everything and take these points from you each class."

Harry only looked at the teacher and sighed deeply, shivering a little. "39.2," the teacher stated, taking back the thermometer. "Minerva, please take Mr. Potter back to the hospital wing and tell Madam Pomfrey that the wrist band isn't working properly."

"Of course," Minerva replied politely and ushered Harry out of the room.

By the time, they reached the hospital wing, Harry felt absolutely miserable, and he sighed in relief, when he felt the effect of the fever reducer Minerva held to his lips. '_Thank God that she didn't give me away by telling Snape about my charm_,' he thought gratefully, while he drifted off to sleep.

When he woke up later that day, he noticed that Madam Pomfrey had given him a new wrist band and decided to manipulate the figures gradually this time. He waited until the next morning, before he threw the first charm on it, reducing the shown temperature only one degree instead of two like he did before. On Saturday morning, he added the same charm once more. '_There is no way that I'm going to stay here when Minerva is gone and classes are going to start_,' he thought determinedly.

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

On Saturday morning, Minerva sat down on the edge of Harry's bed. "Hey sweetie, are you feeling a bit better today?"

"Yes," Harry replied wearily. "I want to return to my dormitory. Are you going to take the aging potion today?"

"Yes, Harry, I really don't want to do that, but I have to," Minerva replied sadly. "I just wanted to tell you something before I take the potion, since I won't be able to tell you that afterwards, when I'll be more than fifty years older than you."

Harry smiled at her, and Minerva continued, "Harry, I fell in love with you. I love you so much." That said she couldn't hold back the tears anymore that had been waiting in her eyes to pour down, and she began to sob vehemently.

Harry quickly sat up and pulled her close. "It's all right, Minerva; I understand you so well. I have feelings for you too, but in a few minutes you'll be back to your usual self and be my teacher. However, I really enjoyed being together with you."

"Thank you, Harry. I will never forget what you've done for me," Minerva sobbed and placed a kiss on Harry's cheek, before she returned to her own bed and sat down, gulping down the aging potion that had been waiting on her night table.

Harry buried his flushed face in his pillow, trying to suppress the tears. Only when he heard Minerva groan in pain, he jumped out of his bed and was at her side in the blink of an eye. "Are you in pain, Professor?" he asked softly and quickly fetched a pain relieving potion from Poppy's office, handing the phial to his head of house, before he once more returned to the office. He gulped down a sleeping potion and hurried back to his bed, falling asleep at once.

A few hours later, Harry woke up when Poppy's voice penetrated his ears. "Harry, are you feeling well enough to get up for a belated Christmas party in the Great Hall?"

Harry wearily opened his eyes. He still wasn't feeling too well, but he had to play along if he wanted the healer to believe that he was well enough to be released to his dormitory the following day. "Oh, yes of course," he replied tiredly.

Poppy sat down on the edge of his bed, observing him in concern. "Harry, what's wrong?" she asked softly.

"Nothing," Harry replied quietly. "It's just that the whole thing with the re-aging got a bit on my nerves, and I took a sleeping potion in the morning, while you were still asleep," he admitted in a small voice.

"All right, Harry. You may of course stay here, if you don't feel like joining us; it's no problem. I can even stay here with you, if you need someone."

"No thank you, Madam Pomfrey. I'll come with you," Harry replied and scrambled out of his bed.

HP HEALER POMFREY HP

Half an hour later, they met the headmaster in the Great Hall for a belated Christmas dinner. Harry looked in awe at the gorgeous Christmas tree that was decorated beautifully. Harry only managed to eat a few bites. He didn't feel well, and he couldn't help missing the girl that had become such a good friend during the last week. Suddenly, a soft voice penetrated his ears.

"Harry, are you all right?" his head of house asked.

"Yes of course, Professor," Harry replied in an equally soft voice, averting his eyes to the huge Christmas tree.

"Come Harry, let's see if there are still Christmas presents for us left," Poppy pulled Harry out of his thoughts, motioning him over to the tree.

Harry found presents from all his friends under the tree and joined the others, who were opening their presents as well. Finally, there was only one large present left, and Harry was extremely surprised when the headmaster handed it to him. He wearily opened the present, finding a new broom inside. "A Firebolt!" he exclaimed, totally amazed. "But who is it from?" he asked, looking around confused.

"Isn't there any note or label?" Minerva asked in concern.

Harry lightly shook his head.

"In that case," the headmaster announced in a grave voice, "we have to ask Professor Flitwick to check the broom against charms or spells since there is a slight possibility that it was Sirius Black, who sent you this broom."

"All right," Harry agreed, feeling too beside himself today to get upset about the matter.

Noticing that everyone was watching him in concern, Harry excused himself and walked back to the hospital wing, gulped down a fever reducer and a headache potion, and went to bed immediately. '_I don't know if I'll ever be able to look at McGonagall anymore_,' he thought while he cried himself into sleep.

* * *

_I am not a native speaker of English. So please excuse my mistakes!_

_All recognizable characters belong to J.K.Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Poppy released Minerva and Harry after breakfast on Sunday morning. "I wish to see you both on Wednesday evening, so that I can check on you and tell you if you may do magic again," Poppy said sternly when the deputy headmistress and her student left the room together.

"Harry, will you be in your common room?" Minerva asked softly. "I have to speak with the headmaster, but I'd like to have a word with you later."

"Of course, Professor; I will be either in the common room or in my dormitory," Harry replied, already regretting that he hadn't told Poppy the truth about his condition.

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"Hello Minerva; it's good to have you back," the headmaster greeted her friendly.

"Thanks Albus," Minerva sighed. "It was an interesting experience though. I came to speak with you about Harry," she continued, seeing that the headmaster threw her a curious glance. "I want him to be removed from the Dursleys, and I want to gain the guardianship over the boy."

Ignoring the headmaster's shocked expression, she continued, "He is not only neglected but also abused by his relatives, and I will not tolerate that further. No Albus, you will listen to what I have to say first," she said firmly, holding up a hand as soon as the headmaster opened his mouth to contradict. "I know about the blood wards and everything, but unfortunately, they don't help against abuse within the family. Severus and Poppy witnessed all of his nightmares with me, and they can assure you that the boy cannot stay there, and if you insist on sending him there, Poppy and I will make a complaint with the Ministry."

The headmaster sighed in defeat and suddenly looked very old to his deputy headmistress. "All right, Minerva. I don't like it at all, but I trust you to keep the boy safe. However, you have to go to the Dursleys and ask them to transfer the guardianship to you. I suggest that you take Harry with you." He handed her a small pile of parchment. "These are the guardianship papers. You only have to fill in the names and get their signature."

"All right, thanks a lot, Albus," Minerva replied in relief and hastily left the headmaster's office to speak with Harry.

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The Gryffindor common room was empty when Minerva climbed through the portrait hole. '_Maybe he's in bed; I don't think he's really well yet_,' she thought in concern and quietly entered the third year boys' dormitory, seeing that Harry was fast asleep.

She already extended a hand to shake Harry's shoulder, when she suddenly drew it back, noticing how ill the boy still looked. He was very pale, although his cheeks were flushed, and his hear was sticking to his forehead in sweat. '_He made himself so worse because he always looked after me_,' she thought guiltily. '_I can't understand why Poppy released him yet though_.'

Deciding to let Harry sleep and speak with him later, she quietly left the dormitory, went into her office to fill out the guardianship papers, and paid the Dursleys a short visit, glad when they complied without making a fuss.

"Have fun with that good for nothing freak," Vernon told her, while he put his sign at the bottom of the parchment.

"I know him very well, and I'm very proud to not only have him as a student but to become his guardian as well. He is a very good child and an extremely powerful wizard," Minerva replied in an icy voice and apparated away. She went straight to the Ministry, glad that she knew the woman, who was head of the family affairs department, so well.

An hour later, Minerva stepped out of the fireplace in her private quarters. She was absolutely exhausted but also very happy to be Harry's guardian. '_Now I only have to tell him_,' she mused but decided to take a short nap first.

When she woke up, it was nearly dinnertime. '_How could I sleep so long?_' she mused, glad that she had so much experience teaching the students that she could afford to teach her Monday classes unprepared. '_I have to tell the other teachers that Harry couldn't do his homework because he was ill all the time_,' she suddenly remembered while she headed over to the common room once more.

This time, Harry was sitting on the sofa in the common room, doing his homework. "May I join you for a moment, Harry?" Minerva enquired, sitting down next to him on the sofa.

"Of course, Professor," Harry replied confused.

"How are you, Harry?" the teacher asked, worriedly taking in that his cheeks still looked deeply flushed in his white face.

"I'm fine, Professor," Harry lied and threw an unobtrusive glance at his wrist watch. "When will everyone come back, Professor?" he efficiently tried to change the topic.

"It's nearly time to head down to the Great Hall," Minerva replied. "However, I'd like to speak with you about something." She handed Harry a copy of the '_Confirmation of Guardianship'_ parchment she had received at the Ministry.

Harry looked at the parchment, and his foggy mind tried to assess what it was about. '... _confirm the transfer of guardianship over Harry Potter from Petunia and Vernon Dursley to Minerva McGonagall_...' he read, feeling utterly confused. "I don't understand..." he slowly trailed off.

"Harry, you once told me that your guardians hated and abused you, and I decided that I had to put an end to all this and gained the guardianship over you," Minerva explained, concerned how Harry would take the news.

"Really?" Harry asked in surprised excitement. "I will never have to go back there, not even in the summer?"

"No, not even in the summer," Minerva promised. "I've already asked the house elves to add a new room for you to my quarters, and I suppose it will be ready tonight, so that you can stay with me whenever you want."

"Thank you so much, Professor," Harry replied, absolute delight showing on his face when he leaned over and pulled his new guardian in a light embrace, which she happily returned.

"You don't have to call me Professor, when we're alone, Harry. You may continue to call me Minerva."

"All right, Minerva," Harry replied, a small smile playing on his lips.

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On Monday, Harry struggled through his classes. He still felt horrible, but knowing that he had to go to Poppy if he wasn't well enough to attend classes he preferred to just wait until lunchtime and take a nap until the afternoon lessons.

"Harry, are you all right?" Hermione asked worriedly, when they were climbing up the stairs back from the Dungeons. "Even Professor Snape was watching you with a worried expression on his face."

"I'm a bit tired," Harry admitted. "I'll go and sleep through lunch, and I don't care for History of Magic, but can you come and wake me up in time for Transfiguration, please?"

"Of course we'll do that," Hermione promised and worriedly looked after Harry when he climbed up the stairs to Gryffindor.

"Minerva, I don't know why Poppy released Mr. Potter yet, but I believe that the boy is still ill," Severus told Minerva at lunchtime.

"Did you ask him?" Minerva questioned, giving the younger teacher a stern glare.

"No, I thought I'd leave that to you, knowing that it was his taking care of you that made him aggravate his condition so much," Severus replied dryly, raising an eyebrow at the older woman.

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During the Transfiguration lesson, Minerva watched Harry closely. Even considering the fact that he wasn't allowed to do magic, he seemed to be extremely apathetic, and giving him a piercing look, she noticed that his eyes were glazed over feverishly. '_How could Poppy deem him fit enough to attend classes?_' she wondered, when she suddenly remembered the night they spent in the library together. Only now she realized that he had invented the charm to fool Poppy in order to escape from the hospital wing in spite of still having a fever.

"Mr. Potter, please stay behind," she called out to the boy, when she dismissed the students at the end of the class. She motioned him over into her office, from where she led him through the connecting door into her private quarters and told him to sit down on the sofa, glad when he complied without questioning her. "Harry, you're in no condition to attend classes. You're still ill," she said sternly.

"I'm fine," Harry protested weakly.

"Do you really think so? Don't forget that I know you much better than I did before these holidays. All right then, let's make a deal. I will take your temperature, and if you don't have a fever, I will let you go immediately. However, if you have a fever, I will show you to your new room, and you'll stay in bed until you're really back to health."

Feeling too ill to fight his guardian, Harry grudgingly agreed and opened his mouth, so that Minerva could stick a thermometer under his tongue. "Harry, I'm aware of the fact that you aggravated your condition so much because you were taking care of me all the time, and I can only say that I'm very sorry for everything."

Harry mumbled something incoherent around the thermometer, and Minerva said sternly, "No Harry, wait please." She made sure that it was still in the correct position, before she continued, "I'd also like to thank you for everything you did for me while I was de-aged."

"No problem," Harry replied when Minerva took the thermometer back.

"39.1 Harry; you're far from back to health," Minerva told him, sighing, and motioned him to follow her, leading him through a small hall into a new room. "This is your room, Harry. We can change the colours according to your likings as soon as Madam Pomfrey allows us to do magic again. Now I want you to lie down and rest."

Harry looked around in awe. '_This is my first own room_,' he thought amazed, before he turned back to his guardian and lightly hugged her. "Thank you, Minerva. This is the best Christmas present ever."

**The End**

_

* * *

I am not a native speaker of English. So please excuse my mistakes!_

_All recognizable characters belong to __Mrs. Rowling__, and I am not earning anything by writing this story._


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